The punishments these people received are grotesquely out of proportion to the crimes they committed" - Jennifer Turner, author of ACLU report

(Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - Alabama ranks third among states in
the number of inmates serving life without the possibility of parole sentences
for non-violent crimes, according to a study by the American Civil Liberties
Union.

"Of the states that sentence nonviolent offenders to LWOP
(life without parole), Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, South
Carolina, and Oklahoma have the highest numbers of prisoners serving LWOP for
nonviolent crimes, largely due to three-strikes and other kinds of habitual
offender laws that mandate an LWOP," the study states.

Of those 3,278 prisoners nationwide, federal courts
accounted for 63 percent of the life without parole sentences, the study
states. The remaining were serving sentences from state courts: 429 Louisiana;
270 Florida; 244 Alabama; 93 Mississippi; 88 South Carolina; 49 Oklahoma; 20
Georgia; 10 Illinois; and one in Missouri .

Of those 244 prisoners serving sentences for non-violent crimes in Alabama, 49 were sentenced on drug
offenses, 171 for property crimes and 24 for other offenses, according to the study. Also of those 244
inmates, 158 had been sentenced under the state's habitual offender act, the
study states.

Overall, Alabama has a total of 1,507 inmates in state
prisons serving life without parole sentences for both violent and non-violent
crimes.

Bennet Wright, the executive director of the Alabama
Sentencing Commission, stated in an email that they are working with the
Alabama Department of Corrections to identify the number of offenders serving
LWOP sentences for specific offenses.

Wright, however, stated that ACLU's definition of a
non-violent crime likely doesn't match the legal definition in Alabama.

"Some people say all drug and property offenses are
non-violent, some people say all offenses other than personal offenses are
non-violent, while some people say select drug and property offenses are
violent," Wright stated.

Wright pointed to a state law setting out the definition for the Alabama Sentencing Commission. "This code section specifically
says all drug trafficking and all felony burglary offenses are violent offenses
- some people may not agree with this definition or use an alternative one, but
this is the definition we use at the Commission as established by the
Legislature."

The ACLU's 240-page study also provides some of the stories from inmates serving LWOP sentences for non-violent offenses and the costs of housing and caring for those inmates.

The ACLU estimates in its study that federal and state
taxpayers spend $1.8 billion housing and caring for the inmates serving LWOP
sentences for non-violent crimes.

"The punishments these people received are grotesquely out
of proportion to the crimes they committed," said Jennifer Turner, ACLU Human
Rights Researcher and author of the report stated in a press release. "In a
humane society, we can hold people accountable for drug and property crimes without
throwing away the key."

The ACLU estimates that, of the 3,278 serving life without
parole for nonviolent offenses, 65 percent are black, 18 percent white, and 16
percent Latino. The study stated that Alabama did not provide a racial
breakdown.

The ACLU stated that it based the study on interviews,
correspondence, and a survey of hundreds of prisoners serving life without
parole for nonviolent offenses, court records, a prisoner survey, and data from
the United States Sentencing Commission, Federal Bureau of Prisons, and state
Departments of Corrections obtained through Freedom of Information Act and open
records requests.

The report includes recommendations to federal and state
governments for changes in sentencing and clemency.